Overheard: What Michigan State football players, coaches said after beating Minnesota

Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio fields questions from the media after the 30-27 win over Minnesota on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017, in Minneapolis. Video by Chris Solari/DFP

Brian Lewerke #14 of the Michigan State Spartans carries the ball against the Minnesota Golden Gophers during the third quarter of the game on October 14, 2017 at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Spartans defeated the Gophers 30-27.(Photo: Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

MINNEAPOLIS – Here’s what Michigan State players and coaches had to say about their 30-27 victory over Minnesota on Saturday night at TCF Bank Stadium:

MSU coach Mark Dantonio’s reaction to the win: “Crazy game. I thought we had the game in place right where we needed it to be in the fourth quarter. Then Minnesota does a great job coming back. We ran the ball effectively. … Hey, I’m happy for the win – we’re 5-1. We shut them down in terms of running the football. We’ll take it.”

MSU RB LJ Scott on his career-high 194-yard game after missing last week’s game at Michigan: “As a team, as an individual, we’re gonna face adversity. It’s about how you maintain and persevere through all that. At the end of the day, man, we got the job done. And we did it as a team.”

QB Brian Lewerke on MSU’s early fumbles: “I think last week (at Michigan), going through all the rain and the monsoon definitely helped. It’s just refocusing. After the first fumbled snap we had, I just focused more on sticking my hands up in there and making sure that I wasn’t pulling out too early. That’s what happened on that one. And as the game went on, it kind of stopped raining and was just a little bit of drizzle, so it wasn’t so bad.”

LB Joe Bachie on MSU’s defense in the final Minnesota drives: “That’s just the game today. We knew the crew we had was No. 1 in the Big Ten in (calling) late hits, so we were trying to be smart. But we still gotta play to the sideline and the whistle.”

DE Kenny Willekes on MSU getting two sacks on Minnesota’s offensive line that had only given up one all season: “I think it was just some of our calls, some of our blitzes. We dialed up some good blitzes. They were just bull rush – all four defensive linemen were really working their tails off in there, and it was good coverage downfield. That made the quarterback hold the ball and give us a little more time to work.”

Lewerke on MSU’s 245 rushing yards and LJ Scott’s big game: “I think he did a fantastic job. Obviously, as you could tell, our plan was to run the ball. Just pound the ball. And LJ did a great job of creating his own holes and running through blockers. And the whole line did a great job of blocking.”

Willekes on MSU’s defense holding Minnesota to a season-low 74 rushing yards: “I thought we played super fast today. I thought we did very well at stopping the run. We got a lot of destruction up front. Our linebackers played fast.”